The New Bioethics

The question is constantly asked: What is the ethics of humanism? Can a society or person be moral without religion? Yes, indeed, affirm secular humanists. Morality is deeply rooted in the “common moral decencies” (these relate to moral behavior in society) and the “ethical excellences” (as they apply to a person’s own life). The Common …

Secular and Religious Humanism The cover illustration of the Fall 2002 issue of Free inquiry with the special section “Drawing Clear Boundaries: Secular Vs. Religious Humanism” aptly depicts much of the content that lies within: little men painting artificial boundaries and erecting fences on an otherwise beautiful landscape. Does the humanist/freethought movement really need to …

For me at least, it is still hard to speak or even think clearly about the terrible events of a year ago. The sheer complexity of the tangled political, legal, military, strategic, theological, and philosophical ques-tions—about international politics and the role of religion, about the goals, strategies, and costs of a new kind of war, …

For good or ill, the late Stephen Jay Gould had a huge influence on American scientific culture, and on balance the good came out on top. His powerful voice will echo on for a long time. Although he and I disagreed about much, we shared much, too, including a spellbound delight in the wonders of …

The “Under God” and Chaplaincy Plaintiff Speaks Out Why did I do it? The answer is easy: our current system is wrong. We have rules, and we’re supposed to abide by them, but we haven’t been abiding by them at all in the arena of the relationship between government and citizens. We’ve taken a purely …

Athough I hesitate to criticize whoever is responsible, I cannot help feeling that the Universe is just a little too—ostentatious. Perhaps we should thank the Taliban for finishing the task the Crusades began nine hundred years ago—proving beyond further dispute that Religion is incompatible with Civilization. Religion is a disease promoted by starvation, because hungry …

Among the continuing Ashcroft-Bush serial violations of the Bill of Rights, one has increasingly aroused editorial writers, constitutional scholars, and other citizens across the political spectrum. Under the elastic designation “enemy combatants,” the administration is holding two American citizens—with more to come—in military brigs and without charges, access to a lawyer, or the right to …

In bioethics as in other areas of ethical debate, arguments very often circle back to our intuitions—those almost automatic responses we have to whether something “feels” right or wrong. But where do these intuitions come from, and how much reliance should we place on them? Some unusual recent research has cast new light on the …

When I was a schoolboy in England, the term Christendom was still in use. It featured mainly in history classes and in archaic sermons, but the presumption of “civilization” as Christian (even more than as “Western”) was still half-alive in the minds of authority. So were the corresponding terms for the less fortunate or enlightened, …

If present trends continue, it seems that Americans currently face the prospect of spending nearly half of their adult life between the ages of eighteen and fifty-nine single (with no particular sex partner) or in dating relationships. The age at first marriage is rising, divorce is increasingly likely, and the rates of remarriage are declining.1 While …

I’ve just put the final touches on the second draft of a play that Center for Inquiry–Metro New York was to produce in November, and I feel comfortable enough with the material finally to copyright it. U.S. law copyrights a work the moment it is created, so technically my piece is already protected. But for …

Now we Get It Democrats searching for explanations for their disappointing results in the November 2002 elections should be talking to the Christian Coalition of America. It is taking credit for the Republican successes. CCA President Roberta Combs issued a press release in celebration, saying her group was able to “train, register, educate, and mobilize …

IntroductIon Richard T. Hull and Tom Flynn, Special Section Co-Editors Heated controversy surrounds today’s efforts to develop ethics by which to manage emerging biotechnologies. Since President Bush’s August 9, 2001, decision to limit federally funded stem cell research to existing lines, debate has swung back and forth on issues such as whether adult stem cells …

FI INTERVIEW Arthur Caplan is director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics and a nationally prominent voice in the debates over cloning and other bioethical concerns. He was interviewed via e-mail by Timothy J. Madigan, former editor of Free Inquiry and now chair of FI’s Editorial Advisory Board.—The Editors Free inquiry: What would …

What the government should do In the past two months I have talked with many people who have a keen interest in whether the Senate will decide to ban therapeutic cloning. At a conference at a Philadelphia hospital, a large number of people, their bodies racked with tremors from Parkinson’s disease, gathered to hear me …

Ideological objections do not hold up In contrast to the Dylan original, “Everybody Must Get Cloned” seems unlikely to serve as a national anthem for this decade. This failure reflects yet another triumph for metaphoric morality over significant science and human health. In reality, the human cloning debate has less to do with a race …

A guiding principle for decision making Genetic scientists predict that we will one day be able to ratchet gene expression up and down rheostatically, not only to evade inherited illness and disability but to alter physical appearance and function, retard the aging process, enhance cognition and perhaps even talent, and shape personality and behavior in …

Would ignorance be bliss? Hearken unto the Lord when he sayeth, “of the tree of knowledge thou shalt not eat” and heed not the subtle serpent with his temptations and guile. The serpent will try to lead you from the true path of God, and bring you down into the clutches of Satan. When the …

Burning bright in the forest of the night Cloning: sword of Damocles of our planetary equilibrium, apple and snake of our impending forfeiture. Cloning: endless source of nightmarish scenarios, starting point of an anticipated end. Cloning: biology’s event horizon behind which everything tears, shatters, and vanishes forever. Rarely has a technology been so universally condemned. …

The failure of bioethics In recent years the issue of human embryonic stem cell (hereafter HESC) research has engendered fierce debate. Some object to HESC research because they say it involves taking a human life. Others argue that its prospective benefits are so huge that not to pursue it would be immoral. It is unreasonable …

The twiwinning argument Recent scientific advances in research involving stem cells derived from human embryos have sparked considerable ethical debate concerning the moral status of the human embryo. Scientists believe that research using stem cells might eventually help us cure diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, juvenile diabetes, spinal cord injury, and diseases of main organs. …

Has He Left The Building? “The type of life envisioned by Dewey involves the development of character by living a life of participation. ” Fifty years ago John Dewey died unceremoniously in his Manhattan apartment with his wife, Roberta, at his side. It was not an unexpected or tragic death, as he was ninety-two, suffering …

Reflections From The Centennial Conference Robert B. Talisse, Robert Tempio, Matthew J. Cotter Some two hundred philosophers, historians, academics, intellectuals, journalists, students, and citizens gathered on October 25 and 26, 2002, at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in Manhattan to celebrate the centennial of Sidney Hook and to re-examine his …

Why We Should Be Skeptical Of Religion Is religion a legitimate area of inquiry for skepticism? The humanist community answers with a resounding “Yes,” while skeptics of pseudoscience and the paranormal are more doubtful.1 This essay was inspired by conversations I have had with friends who happen to be prominent on opposite sides of this …

During the decade 1990–2000, churches failed to gain members at the same rate that the total U.S. population grew. The proof can be found in The World Almanac. Because of reporting delays, the 1992 and 2002 editions approximately cover the last decade of the Christian “millennium.” One might have thought that churches would have been …

Long ago in the Protestant hinterlands of northeast Texas, four young infidels consecrated their bibulous souls to an eleventh-century Persian astronomer-poet. Each Satur day night, in an old Studebaker, we made a pilgrimage to Hugo, Oklahoma, the nearest wet town, to procure libations of Thunderbird wine. As we meandered homeward on isolated back roads, we …

The Intelligent Design movement’s so-called Fine-Tuning Argument is easy to follow and has tremendous rhetorical appeal. In its simplest form, it merely observes that we live in a universe conducive to the evolution of human life, and that, if the universe were changed slightly in any of a hundred different ways, it would not remain …

That freedom is the matrix That required for the growth of moral values—indeed not merely one value among many but the source of all values—is almost self-evident. It is only where the individual has choice, and its inherent responsibility, that he has occasion to affirm existing values, to contribute to their further growth, and then earn …

November 2, 2002, saw history’s largest gathering of politically active secular humanists in the United States’ capital city. An estimated 2,400 secular humanists, freethinkers, atheists, agnostics, and other nonreligious citizens attended the “Godless Americans March on Washington,” marching down the National Mall to a more than four-hour rally in front of the Capitol. Organized by American …

The Ghost in the Universe: God in Light of Modern Science, by Taner Edis (Amherst: N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2002, ISBN 1-57392–977-8) 330 pp. incl. Index. Cloth $29.00. This engaging, well-written book explores one of the Big Questions: does a scientific understanding of the cosmos require (or leave any room for) belief in a god or …

Making the Manifesto: The Birth of Religious Humanism, by William F. Schulz (Boston, Mass.: Skinner House Books, Unitarian Universalist Association, 2002, ISBN 1-55896–429-0) 164 pp., including Introduction, Endnotes, Index. Paper $18. Humanist Manifesto I (1933) may be viewed as a convergence of two themes in Western intellectual history: the selective redefinition of religion and the …

Can We Be Good Without God?, by Robert Buckman (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2002, ISBN 1-57392-974-3) 262 pp. Cloth $22.00. Robert Buckman is a man of many talents. He is a cancer specialist, a professor of medicine, a performer, and president of the Canadian Humanist Association. (Incidentally, Penguin Books of Toronto first published this book …

The Political Philosophy of Wole Soyinka and Other Narratives, by Yemi D. Ogunyemi (Boston: Diaspora Press of America, 2001, ISBN 0-9652-8602-9) 158 pp. Paper $10.00. Wole Soyinka is the first Black Nobel Prize winner for Literature. He is also a laureate of the Academy of Humanism and a recipient of the Distinguished Humanist Award from …

Heretics: The Bloody History of the Christian Church, by W. Sumner Davis, Th.D. (Bloomington, Ind.: 1st Books Library, www.1stbooks.com, 2002, ISBN 0-7596–7537-6) 169 pp., including Glossary, Bibliography. Paper $11.50. Heretics: The Bloody History of the Christian Church covers no new ground. The reader is taken through a journey of the dark and destructive side of …